Here's Boston from the Air. I flew from Shannon, to Boston, to LaGuardia. Not a bad little journey. I was a little bit panicked when my bag didn't turn up, but it eventually did, and the party began.

Broadway. You have no idea how happy I was to be there. I got on a Bus from LaGuardia Airport and sat next to the biggest, sweatiest black woman I've ever seen. When the Driver was announcing stops, I pulled out my map. She noticed I wasn't American, asked where I was from ... and as soon as she heard Ireland, she, and the rest of the Bus all started to give me advice, and directions as we rolled through Queens and Harlem. Harlem's scary! I was christened "Snowflake", and when I stepped off the Bus to get this Subway station you see here on Broadway, the whole Bus was smiling and pointing to the entrance to make sure I didn't get lost. Who says NYC is inpersonal?

Time Square by night. Time Square simply kicks ass. The ESPN Zone restaurant is superb, as is their staff team. One staff member, Lucien, recommended great food, savage drink, and arranged to take me for a beer with his crew when he clocked off. The Hard Rock Café is here, as is the Naked Cowboy, the NYPD, about 17 Starbucks, and loads of "Cameras and Computers" stores who try to rip off eager tourists.

The Naked Cowboy. I can smell fear. This guy was brickin' it in case I decided to whip off my clothes and impress all the women with my manly phisque ... or something ...

A wall of Guitars in the basement of the Hard Rock Café. I had dinner here with Lisa, and was presented with two Hard Rock Café NYC Pint Glasses free, I cradled all the way home. Also in here, were Guitars from Linkin Park, The Beatles, Trivium ... if only we were allowed to play them!

Billy Joel's bike in the Hard Rock.

The Empire State. It was raining. What level of stupidity gripped me and told me to go up on a cloudy day is beyond me. I could see feck all.

The Empire State lobby. Kinda cool after seeing it in so many movies!

The view from the Observation Deck on a rainy day. It was cold, miserable, but it was still a magical feeling to be on the top of a NYC landmark.

Me, and a crappy telescope. You can also see my camera bag. Boy was I sick of carrying the 350d and all it's accessories around at the end of the week!

I broke my ass laughing at this. Check out my Thailand post for other similar vehicles. The NYC have TucTucs!

The Flatiron Building. NYC's first Sky Scraper!

Washington Park in Downtown Manhattan. Loads of Students around here, and older people playing Boules and Chess.

In the hustle and bustle of NYC, it was cool to see this old lad. He couldn't give a damn if the world stopped there and then, he was relaxing drinking his coffee, and eating his bagel. A well chilled out guy - probably from one of the near by Colleges.

The obligatory MINI shot. Yes I visited MINI Manhattan and found the staff to be very welcoming. The market for MINI in the states is so varied. People buy MINIs on their Credit Cards as playthings. There was a hottie girl from Wales working there, so she and I were able to compare the US Market, to the Market back home. They couldn't believe we sell MINIs without Aircon and Leather as standard. I guess Uncle Sam is just used to having fully loaded cars!

Here's 5th Avenue. It's vast. Vast is the only word you can use to describe it. I walked the entire island of Manhattan one day just for shits and giggles, and it was incredible to see just how developed every square inch is.

Here's Atlas holding up the world. Weird eh? The Romans and Greeks knew the world was round, and then the Catholic Church came along with the Dark Ages and suddenly the world was flat. If we didn't have the good old Catholic Church with their hokery pokery, we'd probably be colonising Mars now.

St. Patrick's Cathedral. Another NYC Landmark.

Ice Skating at the Rockerfeller Centre. Ice Skating in March. Wow!

Central Park! Squirrels everywhere, loads of walks, ponds, trees, rollerbladers, cyclists, dogs, nut jobs, musicians, and as you can see Horses and Carriages. I really like this shot.

One of the Central Park's coolest Musicians. It's very surreal to think you're walking in Central Park in Manhattan, listening to a guy playing Jazz on a Sax, when 3 days ago you were in Ireland stuck in traffic. I enjoyed listening to this guy a lot!

A trellis with wood and ivy. Another shot I'm pretty proud of. Slap bang in the centre of the Park.

I'm not explaining this one, but anyone who knows me intimately will know what this room is, and where I'm sitting. And dayum if it didn't feel cool.

Another room in the same building. This is a hidden room which only a few select people get to enter. It's a library housing some of the word's oldest books, and a council table where some serious decisions get made is housed. This is one of about 5 statues of George Washington made from Gold that are hidden from the Public Eye. It was a nice feeling to be granted access to both the room, and the Statue itself.

Grand Central Station. This must be the world's biggest/coolest train station. It has shops, cafés, restaurants in abandoned Subway stations, and of course, this shot of the main lobby with the four faced clock. Really cool place to kill an hour watching people scurry.

I visited the U.S.S. Intrepid that's permenantly moored off 12th Street. It's an Aircraft Carrier that's still chock full of Aircraft, Missiles, Hueys, Tanks ... shops, cafés, and something that really caught my eye ... this prototype of Concorde. As a Pilot, I was fascinated by this. Naturally the Rolls Royce engines are missing, but the cockpit's intact, and the passenger seat rows are filled with period memorabilia.

Here's me with a decommissioned Commanche Helicopter. I would give my left testicle to fly this.

No caption necessary. Trés cool.

I decided to pop off and visit the Statue of Liberty. After buying my ticket, I discovered that they were not allowing people to visit the Statue that particular day, so I said screw it and went on the ferry trip anyway. There are people literally making a fortune selling crap near here. Models on the Twin Towers, of the Statue, of the Empire State, Pretzels (I ate way too many of these when I was Stateside), Water, Statue of Liberty foam pointy hats, etc. To get onto the Ferry, I had to go through a Security Check that was the same as any Airport. I guess the citizens of NYC are just a little jumpy. This street performer was very gratious, and pulled lots of poses for the camera!

This guy rocked. One of my favourite instruments is the Steel Drum, so I tipped this guy, and in his best Jamacian accent asked "Hey mawn, where you from?", answered with "Ireland of course!", and he started into a few jigs no hassles. Kept me smiling for a good while that did!

Ellis Island. This was the first sight many many Irish people saw when they came to the States. It's a Museum now, but I can imagine it was very imposing 2 centuries ago to poor Irish farmers. Did I go in? Feck no. It was FREEZING on the boat, and I had to see Lady Liberty!

Here she is, what a babe! A lot smaller in real life that what you'd expect, but breathtaking none the less. For those not in the know, there's a smaller scale version in Paris I've seen too.

The NYC Skyline from the Ferry. You'd definitely miss the Twin Towers from it though ...

Another NYC Skyline shot from the Ferry Terminal.

This is Ground Zero - a very very spooky spot. There's a hole in the ground where a lot of people lost their lives, but the people working in the area seem unaware of the poignancy. It's bizarre. But no New Yorker can forget what happened, and tributes to the dead are fixed to every fence, and every wall. The Subway Station sign still says "Welcome to the World Trade Centre".

Now the really annoying part about being like every other eejit with a Digital SLR Camera (And let's face it, who doesn't have one and call themselves a photographer these days) is having to lug it around. It has annoyed me on every trip I've been on with it. Thailand, Malaysia, Paris, Rome, Oxford, and countless MINI runs. But every now and again, it becomes more than a Camera. It becomes a Passport. As I was watching the NYC St. Patrick's Day Parade on 5th Avenue, a cop keep staring at me snapping away, changing lenses, reviewing photos, when suddenly he shouted "Where are yous from?", so I answered "Um ... Ireland ...", "Are yous with da Press?" ... "Am, Sure?" ... "Well come out from behind that railing and take some photos!". So with that, I became a Press Photographer, free to roam between the participants and go wherever the hell I wanted. Result! So without further adieu, here's the 2006 NYC St. Patrick's Day Festival!

Anyone who's watched American Chopper will recognise this flag. Well worth a photo.

The happiest parade drummer on the planet. And just like all the other Parade marchers, they were all willing to pose for the Camera.

A happy old lad from the Upstate Lacrosse Team. Yes he plays a wussy sport, if you can even call it that, but he was a character!

Two cops. Love this photo! I should have sold it to The Examiner when I came home.

A sea of the Red, White and Blue. Another savage shot. Only downside was that all the Flags drowned out the light hitting the faces of the Police. Still a great photo though!

"Yous, yous with the Camera, Cheese!"

Regular readers of my Blog know I'm a slut. So without further musings, here's the continuation of Babewatch! Mmmm, Babewatch.

Here's one last blurry Cameraphone Photo from Manhattan. It's the Coyote Ugly Bar ... yes, the one from the Movie! Where complete nerds go to chat up average looking girls who dance on the bar. Great fun though, and of course, having an Irish accent in a place like this just plain rocks!